A publication of First Presbyterian Church, Maryville, MO

Transcription

1 Celebrate It has been a long, drab, cold winter. There have been some days of exception here and there. I can recount an afternoon or two above 40 degrees, but they were few and far between. The combination of snow, ice and wind followed by more snow, ice and wind makes me want to hibernate with a good book and wait until the emergence of spring. On the upside, snow shoveling has been a great way to work out, and everybody s ice skating skills have improved, intentionally or unintentionally. Instead of hunkering down inside and wistfully wishing for spring, I think celebration is in order. Most folks look forward to celebrating landmarks in life such as birthdays, anniversaries, that first career job or retirement. All of these things are good to celebrate. In the middle of this hard winter, we may want to celebrate for no specific reason whatsoever. Why not simply celebrate the joy of life? There is good precedent for doing this. Jesus was known for celebrating. Jesus celebrated so much he was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. Jesus celebrated at the wedding in Cana A publication of First Presbyterian Church, Maryville, MO Jesus celebrated Passover annually with family, friends and disciples. Jesus celebrated the joy of life after raising Lazarus from the dead. During the party, Mary anointed Jesus feet with perfume. The day was one of celebration! I am sure Jesus celebrated the joys of life on numerous occasions that didn t make it into the gospels. Even before Jesus day celebrations were greatly anticipated. Feasts and holidays were a regular part of life in the ancient world. The events happened in the middle of the drudgery of life where simply finding necessities was a monumental task. Isaiah reminds the people to celebrate like this: On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of wellaged wines strained clear (Isaiah 25:6). That sounds like a great party. If God hosts a celebration, it s going to be a good one. It s time to put the book down. Shake off the comforter and put on a party. Turn the music up. Sing and make merry. Celebrate the joy of life. It is a much better way to spend a day than starring outside watching the dead leaves blow across the snow. Only one question remains. Where and when shall we celebrate? The Chocolate Festival! Yes, the two words say it all: Chocolate and Festival. Come savor the joy of life and celebrate on February 9 th from 12-3 PM. Pastor Jonathan

2 2 Lectionary Readings First Presbyterian Church 211 South Main Maryville, MO Sunday School 9:00 Worship 10:30 Church Web Page: Youth Web Page: Youth Facebook: February 3 Jer. 1:4-10; Ps. 71:1-6; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30 February 10 Isa. 6:1-8 (9-13); Ps. 138; 1Cor. 15:1-11; Luke 5: 1-11 February 17 Jer. 17:5-10; Ps 1; 1 Cor. 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26 February 24 Gen. 45:3-11, 15; Ps. 37:1-11, 39-40; 1 Cor. 15:35-38, 42-50; Luke 6:27-38 First Presbyterian Facebook: firstpresbyterianchurchmaryvil lemo Church Staff Hours Rev. Jonathan Mitchell, Pastor 8:00 AM-Noon Monday Thursday Vicki Wainscott, Administrative Assistant 8:00 AM noon Monday Thursday Larry Mannasmith, Music Dir. Merlin & Kay Atkins, Custodial Care Inside This Issue Pastor Jonathan s Message Lectionary...2 February Schedules Library Book, Message. 4 Chocolate Festival....5 GROW.6 Budget Session Session Highlights.. 10 Kid s Page..11 Cartoon...12

3 3 February Birthdays Lydia Mitchell Shepherd's Kitchen Crew Sally Tennihill Jeff Funston February 7 February 14 February 21 February 28 First Christian Church Hope Lutheran Church Northwest EM Club Diane and Ron Brown, Pam and Ron Petersen, Richard Fulton, Bruce and Janis Roorda Ushers Rich and Karen Fulton Kay and Merlin Atkins

4 4 Book for January Located in Reference First Presbyterian Library News from graduates In continuing editions of the Presby Post, we will have updates from our youth who have graduated from high school and moved into the world. The first column is from Lydia Mitchell All the Men of the Bible/All the Women of the Bible is a monumental work of scholarship whose practical insights demonstrate the timeless nature of God's Word. Nearly 3,500 men and women, named and nameless, come to light through Dr. Lockyear's searching character studies. From Aaron to Zurishadai, Abi to Zipporah, here are the people of the Bible, the meanings of their names, their significance, and the lessons they hold for us at the turn of a millennium. (from description in Library Cat) You can check it out using your phone by following the directions posted in the Library. If you want to have it checked out for you, put the name of the book and your name and Vicki will check it out for you on her next day in the office. Look for next months book All the Women of the Bible. I have had a fantastic experience at Knox! My first term went pretty smoothly. I have loved playing soccer here and getting to know everyone. After just a week of practice I felt like I had been there for years and I got really close with all my teammates. Our season went exceptionally well. We won and hosted the conference tournament and made it to the first round of the NCAA tournament. I was lucky enough to start the majority of the season and I lead the team in goals! I never could have imagined I would fit so well with this team. They really supported me through my first term and they truly have blessed my time here at Knox. Now I am halfway through my second term here and things are still pretty great! The only downside is the daily temperature has been below zero the majority of my time here and the snow is deeper than I ve ever seen! I ve gone sledding with friends and even helped build an igloo! When I m not having fun I m usually in the library studying for my next exam. This term I m taking Spanish, Chemistry, and American Public Policy. I like all my classes but Chemistry is definitely the most difficult. After I m done studying I go to the gym and lift, run, or play futsal with my teammates. On weekends my roommate and I always do something new like try a new restaurant or have a snowball fight. Her name is Deborah and she had never seen snow before she came here! We have had a lot of fun in the winter weather together. I can t wait to come home and say hello to everyone! Lydia

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9 Elected Session Class of 2021 Linda Hanson (Term 1) Jean Hurst (Term 1) Class of 2020 Diane Brown (Term 1) Jack Frisbie (Term 1) Class of 2019 Brock Pfost (Term 1) Team Leader: Finance Team Leader: Spiritual Care Team Leader: Discipleship Team Leader: Buildings and Grounds Team Leader: Outreach and Fellowship Bruce Roorda (Term 2) Team Leader: Administration Clerk of Session Bruce Roorda Treasurers Kay Atkins & Karla Rusco, Co-Treasurers Commissioned Deacons (class of 2019) Ray Garton Ron Petersen

10 10 January 2019 Session Update Rev. Mitchell opened the meeting with a reading from Psalm 19. Session welcomed new members Linda Hanson, Jean Hurst, and Brock Pfost. Because roads conditions were uncertain at best, Linda Hanson attended by phone as provided in our bylaws. This was the first time we ve done that. Session now has members: Brock Pfost (class of 2019, first term) Outreach and Fellowship Team Bruce Roorda (class of 2019, second term) Administrative Team Diane Brown (class of 2020, first term) Discipleship Team Jack Frisbee (class of 2020, first term) Buildings and Grounds Team Linda Hanson (class of 2021, first term) Finance Team Jean Hurst (class of 2021, first term) Spiritual Care Team The church has two commissioned deacons. Their terms run through this year. Ray Garton Ron Petersen The church officer nominating committee has three congregational members. Jana Mitchell (second term) Vicki Wainscott (second term) Wayne Snyder (first term) The endowment committee has three at-large (congregational) members. Richard Fulton Ron Brown Jeff Funston Rev. Mitchell presented material for Heartland Presbytery s annual GROW educational event, which is open to all church members, as well as session members. Linda Hanson presented a financial report that included the month of December 2018 and the 2018 fiscal year. She also presented a three month financial projection. Kay Atkins and Karla Rusco were re-elected co-treasurers of the church and Bruce Roorda was re-elected clerk of session. Session approved the Session Annual Statistical Report to be submitted to General Assembly. That report lists our church s active membership at the end of 2018, which will be used in 2019 to determine our per capita for the beginning of The next meeting of session was tentatively scheduled for February 28.

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